Forest conservation and management in Karnataka has seen a change in the last decade. In Karnataka, JFM is known as Joint Forest Planning and Management (JFPM) and was initiated in 1993 coinciding with the starting of the Western Ghats Forestry and Environment Project with British funds.The largest number of VFCs in the State have been created under the Eastern Plains Forestry Project executed with a loan from the Japan Bank for International Co-operation from 1997.